Obama is set to sign an executive order Thursday directing the
Labor Department to raise the threshold for workers covered by
overtime protections. The White House said it would affect
millions of workers, mostly of low and middle income.

In a statement provided to Business Insider, the Chamber's
executive director of Labor Law
Policy, Marc Freedman, said the
proposed rule changes would add a burden to job creation — much
like Obama's goal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10.

"Changing the rules for overtime eligibility will, just like
increasing the minimum wage, make employees more
expensive and will force employers to look for ways to cover
these increased costs," Freedman
said. "Similar
to minimum wage, these changes in overtime rules will fall
most harshly on small and medium sized businesses, who are
already trying to figure out the impact of Obamacare on
them. We understand that the administration is looking for
ways to put more money in people's pockets, but the only way to
do this is to grow the economy and create more jobs. Adding more
burdens to employers will not accomplish that goal."

The Obama administration's argument was laid out Thursday by
Betsey Stevenson, a member of the White House's Council of
Economic Advisers. Stevenson described
the 40-hour work week as outdated and noted current regulations
keep employees who work 50-60 hours from being paid overtime. One
current Labor Department exemption gives companies leeway to
prevent overtime pay for workers they deem "executive, administrative,
and professional."

Obama's order
will change the weekly salary level at which that exemption kicks
in,. Current regulations prevent employers from denying
time-and-a-half overtime pay to any salaried worker earning less
than $455 per week — a level set in 2004. The White House argued
that has failed to keep up with the pace of inflation.

"There are 3.1 million people who, if the threshold had
kept up just with inflation, would automatically be covered by
overtime provisions," Stevenson said Wednesday at the White
House's daily press briefing. "What we’re going to be doing is,
in the weeks and months to come, looking deeply at this problem
and making sure that the overtime provisions are working as well
as they should in today’s economy."

"The president believes that if you’re making $25,000 a
year and you’re working 60 hours a week, you should be getting
paid for the extra hours you work," she added.